Bad planning on my part – two Special Bitter Ale’s at the same time.  I wrote a bit more about the Gritty’s Halloween but the dilemma remains the same – lots of similar, but good, beer (both have “B+” ratings on BA).  There’s only one solution to this problem.

Update: this took a surprising amount of time to kick, and was the 2nd longest keg (behind the Gritty’s it was paired with).  I’d probably lower my rating of it to a “B-” but would certainly try it again in the future.

Tapped 1/16/11

Kicked 4/26/11

Categories: Geary's, Past Brews
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I had hoped that the spicing of this beer would be nice as a winter spiced beer – and it sort of works.  My complaint, though, is that it’s just not quite as good as I remember it being (although it has scored a “B+” on BA).  In addition, it’s paired with the (potentially better although quite similar) Geary’s HSA.

Don’t get me wrong, this is certainly a good beer… but not Black Lab Bar good.  Maybe the bitterness was just a bit surprising, having just finished the uber-sweet Clown Shoe’s Pecan Pie Porter.  There are certainly worse scenarios than being “stuck” with a keg of Gritty’s.

Update: this was the first keg we didn’t finish before returning, and we had it on tap for a record-setting 113 days.  It was a quarter barrel, but apparently we simply didn’t drink in any of Q1 (partly because I was experimenting with beer allergies).  This was, nonetheless, the only beer we wanted kicked bad enough to simply return.  Good beer in autumn but completely out of it’s element in April.

Tapped 1/16/11

Kicked 5/9/11 (manually)

Categories: Gritty McDuff's, Past Brews
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Originally served back in 2008, this is a great light beer that makes a nice sessions beer.  Appropriately paired with the sweet and dark Clown Shoes “Pecan Pie Porter”.

BBC describes this beer as;

BBC’s flagship brew is a light colored, medium bodied ale exhibiting exceptional freshness through its 2-Row Pale malt backbone and signature hop flavor and aroma.  In the words of renowned beer writer Lew Bryson, Steel Rail EPA is “what the water in heaven oughta taste like.”

5.3% Alcohol by volume (ABV)
20 International Bitterness Units (IBU)

Kicked 1/16/11… but the long tap-time is no reflection of the quality of this beer.  This is one of my favorite of BBC’s offerings and I’ll certainly put it on tap again – most likely before the end of the year, too.

Categories: Berkshire, Past Brews
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I’ve complained before about Mercury Brewing’s naming convensions and this is another example – apparently Clown Shoes is a series of beers under Mercury Brewing in Ipswich, MA – same as Ipswich Brewing.  BeerAdvocate notes, however, that this series is “Currently contract brewed at Mercury Brewing Company, Inc.” …perhaps their completely independent from Ipswich and Mercury.

I was willing to overlook all this, however, due to the recent launch of this beer and proximity to Thanksgiving weekend – a 4-day period where we’ve been known to crush kegs.  It has a “B+” rating online so I wasn’t too concerned with getting stuck with it, either.  Their other beers are consistently rated “A-” so I’d love to support a kickass new brewery that’s local.

Clown Shoes doesn’t list the beer on their site but BA lists it as a 7.0% ABV American Porter

Kicked 1/16/11.  This was slow to kick, primarily because I was testing a beer allergy-theory and not drinking any beer in the month of December.  It was a fantastic beer, though – really nice, slow drinking beer and I’m glad to see Clown Shoes do well.  An awesome brewery opening in Lexington is second only to an awesome brewery opening in Concord.  I’ll definitely serve this beer again. (A-)

Categories: Clown Shoes, Past Brews
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Wow, that was a lot of work.  Two and a half hours later and the kegerator is back up and running.  Here’s a list of the maintenance performed;

• Ice Defrosted – this was the majority of the time.  There was also ice behind the back metal panel that I made the mistake of removing.  It’s held on by four screws and it looks like so much ice had accumulated behind it that it popped one of the rubber washers.  Note to self: don’t let the ice build up so much!  I’ll need to monitor this and possibly defrost on intervals closer to 4 months.
• Co2 Replaced – coincidentally, there was a very small shot of co2 left in the old tank, so this timing was great.  It looks like the last recorded co2 switch was in July of 2009, nearly a year and a half ago… or 1,300 beers.  My brother generously fills up the co2 since he works in the city in exchange for all he can drink.
• Beer Lines Cleaned – They were surprisingly clear, even though it’s been probably close to a year.  The biggest hassle was taking off the couplers and spouts to clean, which were the problem areas.  I’ll probably save time next round by doing these more frequently than the full lines.
• Co2 Lines Replaced – years ago some beer got in one of the c02 lines.  There was a little gross areas inside the line (size of a quarter maybe).  I doubt it impacted any flavor but bothered me enough to replace both of the lines with brand new ones.

I think that’s it.  It was a lot of work but it’s back up and running for another few months in the least.

Categories: Cleaning, Co2, Defrost, Repairs, Upkeep
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I drank this in Maine earlier this fall and was into it – it’s a nice beer that isn’t overly spiced like some of the pumpkin beers.  It’s pretty similar in body to the Smuttynose “Old Brown Dog” that’s on tap with it (both medium-bodied) but should be a nice alternative.  Similar to “OBD”, Geary’s is labeled as an “English Brown Ale” on BA (with a “B+” rating).  The only apparent difference is its ABV, which is slightly lighter at 5.8% ABV, vs. Smutty’s 6.7%.

Geary’s writes;

“Geary’s Autumn Ale is a faithful interpretation of the classic brown ales of Great Britain. With a deep auburn color and a subtle nut-like flavor, Geary’s Autumn Ale is the perfect choice as the seasons change.

Availability: August – November

Original gravity: 1058

Ingredients: Two row English malt (clarity, crystal, chocolate and wheat); Cascade, Golding & Fuggle hops.”

Categories: Geary's, Past Brews
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